What better way
to start the new year off but to wrap up the end of last year. Mommy B and I
decided to take the kiddos up to Concord, NC and meet Grandma C at Great Wolf
Lodge the day after Christmas. This allowed Grandma C to break up her long
drive from Ohio and spend some quality time with her babies. For anyone who
doesn’t know what GWL is, it’s basically a huge indoor water park/resort... complete
with wave pool, slides, arcade, mini bowling alley, and restaurants.
One would think
that when you’re taking two small kids to a place like that, how could things not be fun, right? Well, it was a mixed
bag. I started getting sick the day we drove up, which I knew wouldn’t bode
well for the remainder of our stay (a whole one night). When we first went into
the pool area, Alli wasn’t really having it. The numerous “sprayers” on each of
the toys somewhat frightened her which made her somewhat avoid things altogether.
Aiden seemed to be enjoying himself, so that basically meant that Mommy B
stayed in the pool with Aiden and I walked around the rest of the hotel with
Alli. That night, they had fun going to “story time” and watching “snow” fall
in the lobby with Grandma C. While the kiddos stayed up late in their pajamas,
Mommy B and I hit the “grown-up slides” for some fun of our own. Even while
battling my impending illness, we had a blast reliving our youth sans kids. We
made our way back to our room just in time to help put the kids to sleep, which
ended up backfiring as we suspected it might. Alli and I tried to share a
pull-out couch in which we could feel almost every individual coil spring… and
I felt every single kick of hers. Mommy B tried to get Aiden to fall asleep in
the bunk beds with little luck, and she ending up sleeping in four different
places throughout the night.
We arose the
next morning red-eyed and dragging. I felt pretty terrible, but the kids seemed
to be in pretty good spirits. I took the kids to get doughnuts for breakfast while
Mommy B rested. I recall telling the lady behind the counter we needed half a
dozen doughnuts, a sandwich for me and a coffee for Mommy B. When we got back
to the room, Mommy B asked the kids how many doughnuts we got for them. Alli
replied, "We got 6 doughnuts, mommy.” I’m not sure if she actually knows
what “half a dozen” means or not, but she figured it out. She continues to
surprise and impress us on a daily basis. We tried heading back to the pool and
this time Alli finally got her sea legs and Aiden wanted held. So once again,
Mommy B played in the pool while I walked the other around. Overall, I think
the kids had a pretty good time – and Grandma C got us a gift certificate to go
back again! I have a feeling that if we call our good friends who live right
down the road and have them join with their kiddos (and I avoid getting sick),
it’ll be an even better time.
Grandma C then
followed us back to Charleston to stay until New Year’s. Also news to us while
we had been gone, my brother was coming to town at the end of that week. He’s
been deployed in the Navy for the last nine months, so I was looking forward to
spending some quality time with him on New Year’s Eve and having the cousins
see each other again. Since Mommy B and I had taken most of that week off, we
spent lots of time with the kids while I battled a low grade fever and a cough.
It was a lot of fun getting to see more family and taking some time off work to
spend it with those who are most important.
